January 26, 1998

The internet has changed everything
Of that there is no doubt
Relationships are nothing like they were before it
You can meet someone hundreds, thousands of miles away
You can feel like you love them
You can see their image
Get their phone number and call them
You can learn to care for someone just on an intellectual level
No hindrance of lust; or lack of it

How amazing

How sad

There is something that is lacking without touch
Can you really know a person before you have breathed them in
Before you have seen with your own eyes how they sit in their favorite chair?

And what of the people you do know?
The ones you have been with before
The net can keep a relationship going
Fueling the flames
I must ask myself:
Without the online connection would this relationship still be strong?
Sadly the answer is usually no
So what does that mean?

I love this technology
I hate to put myself in a position to dismiss it
But emotion is a dangerous playground

We find ourselves putting more into our machines
Becoming ever increasing "virtual" entities
In the end what is to become of us
Just ghosts in the silicon?
Trading the tender caress of loving words

We are lonely creatures
We desire contact
Companionship
It is a time where that can always be found with merely a phone call

Is this evolution?
We could all be networked together
No need to leave our homes
Just click, click, click and everything you need is there
Even friends and love

Maybe I am becoming jaded in my old age
Ha
Burned out at 23

Keep your eyes and mind open
-Alek Traunic